Chapter Eleven

Martin was up early Thursday morning and in his consulting room, taking inventory of the medical supplies he had left. He looked up at the ceiling as he could hear his wife's footsteps and James' gurgles of laughter from the second level. A slight smile tugged at his lips. He was finally becoming used to their domesticity as a married couple.

He finished his list of items he would need Morwenna to order and walked out to reception to put it on her desk just as Louisa was coming down the stairs, helping James as he navigated his way down the steps by her side.

"Good morning," his wife beamed at him. "Gosh, you're up early."

"Mm, morning. I didn't sleep very well last night."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Martin."

He shook his head. "It's fine."

"Da-ee!" James squealed once he and Louisa reached the bottom step. The boy pulled away from his mother and toddled over to Martin.

Martin swung his son up into his arms, eliciting a laugh from the child. "Morning, James. How are you?" He brushed his fingers over his son's cheek.

James leaned forward to rest his head against his father's. Martin glanced at his son for a moment then shifted his eyes to Louisa. She was smiling at him, obviously happy at the tender scene between father and son.

"Are you hungry at all?" she asked him.

"Um, yes."

"Good." She turned and headed for the kitchen and Martin let his eyes wander over her backside. The dark jeans she wore hugged her every curve and the knit green jumper contrasted her dark hair.

"Martin?" Her voice snapped him out of his trance. "Are you coming?"

He cleared his throat. "Mm, yes."

During breakfast, Louisa was uncharacteristically quiet as they ate. She dreaded having to tell Martin about the school's upcoming Christmas concert. Like the previous year, he was not at all enthusiastic about having to attend the end of term concert. But she could sense that maybe it would be different this year. They'd been through a lot since then and the disastrous dinner party that followed.

"Louisa?"

She glanced up from her egg to meet Martin's concerned eyes. "Hmm?"

"Are you feeling alright? You're being awfully quiet this morning."

Louisa shook her head, causing her ponytail to flick from side to side. "I just have something on my mind, that's all."

Martin remained pensive. "Oh."

Putting her hands in her lap, Louisa started chewing on her lip, trying to find the courage to ask him. She didn't know why it was so difficult. He was her husband. But she knew he hated attending public functions and the last thing she wanted was for them to end up in an argument just before she had to leave.

Nervously twisting her wedding band around her finger, Louisa took in a deep breath and went for it. "Martin, the school's Christmas concert is next week."

He turned his attention away from James to look at her. "Oh?"

Louisa nodded. "Yes, and as headmistress I'm leading the function, but it's also expected that you attend with me - you know, as my husband."

Martin's brow creased. Oh, God, he thought to himself.

"Martin?" Louisa gave him a pleading smile, willing him to accept the invitation.

"Uhm, I-" he stammered, "Is it mandatory that I attend?"

Her smile faded. Of course, she thought. "Martin, I thought we'd gotten past this? You know, since the end of term concert last year?"

Martin looked over at James then back to his wife. "Yes, I know, but what about James?"

"Well we have Janice. And if she's not available he could always come with us." Louisa could tell he still wasn't convinced. She let out a sigh. "Please, Martin? For me? Things between us have been much better lately and I just thought that maybe you'd like to attend a community event with your wife. I'd like that, anyway."

Martin could see the disappointment in her eyes as she looked across the table at him. He wanted nothing more than to make her happy, but the idea of having to endure an hour of off-key singing and excruciating small talk made his head ache. And the last thing he wanted was to drive another rift between himself and Louisa.

"It's fine if you're not up to it," she said after he made no attempt at an answer.

"No, I'll go."

Louisa looked up at him, surprised by his willing response. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yes. This is important to you. And I, um, want to be there with you, no matter how agonising it'll be."

Louisa ignored the last bit of his comment. "Thank you, Martin." She smiled at him.

"Yes."

In a better mood, she turned to her son. "Maybe we can take you with us, huh, James? You'd like that, wouldn't you?" She tickled his cheek and ran her fingers through his hair.

Martin frowned. "Are you sure that would be a good idea? Taking him with?"

"Why not? It'll give some of the villagers a chance to meet him. And the more social interactions James has, the better, don't you think?"

Martin continued to frown. Why was his wife so insistent about James being sociable? He was only eighteen months old, just starting to talk. "Why do you insist on James being sociable?" he asked her, tilting his head to the side.

Louisa raised her brows at his blunt question. "Because, Martin, we live in a small village in a secluded area. Don't you want your son to be sociable when he gets older?"

Martin sighed. He knew it was because of his own introverted personality that she was worried about James. "Yes, but why do you have to push him? He is who he is, Louisa. Let James be himself. I don't want him to be like me, and it would make me happy if he had your strength and confidence, but we can't know for sure." He turned to face James, who was looking at him with such adoration that it made Martin's chest swell. "All I know is that he has two parents who love him; that love him for who he is, not how he should be."

Louisa softened her features. She was taken by surprise at his words. Perhaps he was right? James shared a copy of each of their genetic makeup. He was a unique individual but distinctly theirs. There was no telling if he was going to be as withdrawn as Martin or as sociable as her when he was older.

"I'm sorry, Martin," she said. "I don't mean to push him into situations like that, but I just worry, you know? I want our son to have a healthy and stimulating life. Sometimes, when I look at him, I think of you and your horrible upbringing and it just terrifies me that James will somehow be affected by that."

Martin let his frown disappear and reached over with an open palm. She placed her hand in his and gripped it tightly. "We're doing just fine," he said, nodding towards James. "He's perfect the way he is."

Louisa looked over at the life they created together - out of love, she was sure. "Yes." Then she thought for a moment. "You won't change your mind about the concert, will you?"

He sighed, "No."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

. . .

On the night of the school Christmas concert, Martin was adjusting his tie as he looked in the mirror hanging on the door of his wardrobe. He paused, staring at his reflection. He sighed internally. He really had no interest in going, but being married to the headmistress he was expected by the community to attend school functions. At least James would be with them, despite his initial reluctance. That way their son could provide him with a distraction and a diversion to small talk.

He moved to the bathroom to fetch his comb. Louisa was at the sink, pulling her hair up in an impossible-looking style. She caught his eye in the mirror as he stood behind her.

"My, don't you look handsome," she said, noticing how his blue tie brought out the pale colour of his eyes.

Martin grunted and reached around her for his comb. For a minute, they were silent as he combed his short hair into place. Gazing down at the red-patterned dress she wore, he felt his heart rate pick up. Settling his hands on her hips, he stepped closer to her.

Louisa froze as she felt his hands gently encase her hips. She glanced up at him in the mirror and could see a sparkle in his eyes. Grasping his hands, she pulled them around her waist to rest against her abdomen.

Nuzzling his nose behind her ear, Martin breathed out, "You look so beautiful."

Keeping her hands atop his, Louisa smiled to herself. "Thank you, Martin."

"Mm. Are you wearing perfume?" he asked as he inhaled the scent of her.

Her smile quickly faded. "Martin, I swear, if you say anything inappropriate or offensive . . ."

He pulled away momentarily to meet her gaze in the mirror. "I won't - I promise." The corners of his lips tugged upwards in a brief grin. "But I have to ask, is it kenzo flower?"

Louisa's smile reappeared as she pulled him back to her. "Yes. You remembered."

"Mm. It suits you."

She could stand there all day with his arms wrapped around her. When they were alone like this, he let his inhibitions slide away, tangible evidence of the effect she had on him.

He kissed the skin just below her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. "Mm, Martin. We need to leave soon." She closed her eyes as he ignored her statement and continued to nibble on her sensitive skin. His grip around her waist tightened and when she glanced up in the mirror, his eyes were dark with longing.

Turning around in his embrace, Louisa placed her palms on the lapels of his suit. "Martin, we really do need to leave."

"I don't want to. I want to stay right here - with you."

She smiled briefly. "As much as I'd like to, I'm needed at the school." She was able to break free of his hold and headed out to their bedroom. He followed her.

"How long will this last?" he asked, standing next to the bed, twitching his fingers.

"Just a few hours," she replied, sitting down to put on her heels.

Martin sighed. "Will I have to mingle with any of your ghastly colleagues?"

Louisa stood up and gave him an angry look. "They're not ghastly, Martin. Some of them are my friends."

"I see. Will what's his name be there? The one I diagnosed with Parkinson's, along with his alcoholic wife?"

Louisa blew out an exasperated breath. "No, Martin. Dennis and Karen won't be there, so you're safe."

He ducked his head. "Right. I'll, um, get James then meet you in the car."

"Yes, thank you," she said in a clipped tone.

The Christmas concert was being held in the gymnasium of the school. Upon entering, Martin weaved his way through chatting parents and errant, running children, ducking now and again to avoid the seasonal decorations hanging from above.

He had James perched in his right arm, who seemed mesmerised by all the new faces and shimmering lights and decorations he saw. People turned to stare at him as he walked through the crowd. Martin began to grow self-conscious and desperately searched for his wife, who had gone her separate way to begin preparing for her opening speech. He saw her dark hair as she stood near the stage set-up talking to one of her colleagues. He turned around and found an open end seat in one of the middle rows. He settled James on his lap and silently waited for the evening to begin.

After Louisa finished her opening speech and the audience's applause faded, she sank down into the empty seat beside Martin.

"Your speech was very good," he whispered in her ear.

Louisa turned and smiled at him. "Thank you," she whispered back. "Would you like me to take him?" She gestured to James, who was wide awake from all the noise.

"Um, no, I'm fine." Martin shifted in his seat, feeling his legs beginning to grow numb from the weight of James in his lap.

"Okay." Louisa turned her attention to the stage, where her pupils were gathered, ready to perform.

For the next hour, Martin sat and listened to the out of tune singing and poorly choreographed dancing. He kept James situated in his lap, impressed by how well his son was behaving. About halfway through the program, the music was starting to give Martin a headache and he desperately wanted to find a lavatory he could hide in for the rest of the night. He glanced over at Louisa out of the corner of his eye. The children's average performance had little effect on her. As a matter of fact, she seemed to be enjoying herself. She tapped her fingers in her lap along to the music, all the while smiling from ear to ear.

When the concert finished, Martin was grateful. He stood amongst the crowd of nattering parents and teachers. Louisa finally returned to his side with James, who had needed a quick nappy change. She placed her hand on his arm, causing him to look down at her. "How are you doing?" she asked him.

"Mm, fine." He bent down next to her ear so no one else could overhear him, "How long do we have to stay?"

"Just a little while longer, I'm afraid."

He grunted once more then looked away.

"Louisa," a gentle, male voice crooned.

Martin turned his head to see a man walking towards them, or rather towards his wife. He was young, most likely around Louisa's age, and he was dressed in a black suit and white shirt but no tie.

"Hi, Elliot," Louisa replied, giving him a smile. She turned to face Martin. "Martin, this is Elliot Keane. He's our new year four teacher."

Martin was less than pleased as the man strolled up to Louisa's side. He kept his mouth fixed in a tight line.

"Elliot, this is my husband, Martin," she said, introducing him.

Elliot smiled at Martin and stuck out his arm. Martin glanced down at the man's hand and reluctantly shook it. "Nice to meet you, mate." The teacher turned his attention to James. "And this little one must be James, right?" He tickled the boy's cheek and James remained uncertain by the new stranger.

Martin narrowed his eyes at Elliot, not comfortable with a strange man touching his son.

"Yes, this is James - James Henry," Louisa said as she looked lovingly at her son.

"So you're the GP?" Elliot said, facing Martin once more. "The great Dr. Ellingham. I've heard a lot about you."

Martin's brow creased. "Oh, really?" he said with a sneer.

Louisa could sense her husband's hostility and gently placed her hand on his arm. "It's alright, Martin," she whispered to him. As the two men eyed each other up and down, Louisa desperately thought of a way to diffuse the tension.

"Did you enjoy the concert?" Elliot asked Martin, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

Martin's frown was unmoving. "Mm. It was adequate."

Elliot furrowed his brow. "Well, I suppose that's what happens right before holiday break, right?" He smiled at Martin, attempting once more to break through the doctor's severe facade.

"Mm," was Martin's abrupt reply.

He turned to face Louisa again. "Hey, great speech." He playfully nudged her arm with his elbow. "It was very inspiring."

Louisa grinned. "Aw, thank you. But I couldn't have done it without my editor here." She linked her free arm though Martin's, embracing him from the side.

Elliot, sensing their conversation was heading to an end, politely excused himself. "Well, um, it was nice to finally meet you, Martin."

"Dr. Ellingham," Martin corrected him.

Elliot shook his head. "Yes. Sorry about that. I heard you prefer your proper title. We'll have to meet up sometime. Have a pint down at the pub?"

Martin grunted. "Mm. I don't drink."

Feeling the awkwardness increase, Elliot addressed Louisa, "So I'll see you after the holiday break, right?"

She nodded and he placed a friendly hand on the small of her back, which caught Martin's attention. He meant to take a step forward and pull the man's arm away, but Elliot had already removed his hand. "Happy holidays," he said then turned away into the crowd.

Louisa whipped her head around to her husband, giving him a fierce glare. "What?" Martin said, tilting his head to the side.

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to contain her anger. "I know you weren't too keen about meeting Elliot, but you could've at least been polite to him."

Martin scrunched his nose. "He was being smarmy."

"No, Martin. He was being sociable, unlike somebody." Her head flicked sharply as she turned and left him standing there.

"Louisa?" he called after her, but she didn't stop.

The short drive back to the surgery was in stony silence. Louisa refused to look at him and kept her gaze fixed outside the car window. Martin was feeling just as tense, not only from his wife's anger but from the way that wheedling teacher took an interest in Louisa. He may not be the best at picking up on social cues or emotions, but he could definitely read the body language of that arrogant twit.

Entering the cottage, Louisa finally turned to face him. "Martin, I'm going to bed."

"Louisa . . ." Martin paused, unsure of how to continue. He looked at James, who was asleep in his mother's arms.

"Yes?"

He could see how tired she was. "Um, nothing," he said while shaking his head.

Louisa glanced down at the floor for a moment then turned and headed up the stairs.

Martin retreated to his consulting room, deciding that Louisa needed a bit of time to herself. He sat down heavily behind his desk and gazed around the immaculate space, unsure of what to do. His eyes caught a glimpse of the mantle clock Louisa had given him for his birthday sitting on the windowsill. He meant to give it a proper examination but hadn't found the time. He was either too busy with patients or too engrossed in family matters.

Standing up, he retrieved the clock and set it down on his desk. He swiveled around to the cupboard behind him and reached for his case of tools. Unrolling the velvet material in front of him, he picked up the small screwdriver and set to work at disassembling the clock.

It was after midnight and Martin still hadn't come upstairs. Louisa continued to toss and turn. Sleep eluded her as she worried about her husband. She didn't know why his taciturn nature upset her so much. Was she embarrassed by him? Sometimes that was the case, especially when he was rude and offensive, but reserved and gruff was how he was always going to be.

Louisa punched her pillow, hating herself for chastising him. Oh, Martin, she thought, I'm sorry. She turned on her side and looked at the empty space next to her. Finally, she got out of bed and donned her dressing gown.

Martin had all the pieces of his clock laid out in front of him when he heard a soft knock on the doorframe. He turned his head to see Louisa standing in the doorway.

"Martin?" she said as she tentatively approached him. He turned away and looked down at the many gears in front of him. Louisa swallowed hard. "Martin, we should really talk about what happened earlier at the concert."

"Mm. What's there to talk about? You're obviously upset with me. For what, I still don't understand."

She sat down in the chair across from him. "That's why we need to talk. I realise now that I overreacted."

"Which you tend to do a lot," he mumbled as he cleaned the teeth of one of the tiny gears.

Louisa narrowed her eyes at him. "Mar-tin, would you leave the clock alone and just listen to me."

Her strong voice pulled his attention back to his wife and he waited for more of her harsh words to follow.

"I'm sorry for not telling you about Elliot. But in all honesty, you could have been a bit more polite to him. He was just trying to be friendly."

"He was being more friendly with you if I remember correctly."

"He was not!" Louisa replied defensively.

Martin tilted his head to the side. "Oh, so you didn't notice the way he kept touching you?"

"He wasn't touching me, Martin."

"I see."

Louisa continued to glare at him. This was not how she envisioned their discussion to be. "Don't say I see like that."

"Then what do you want me to say, Louisa? Because it seems that every time I open my mouth you get upset."

Louisa looked down at the many parts and pieces of the clock scattered across the surface of his desk. She took in deep breath and said, "I'd like you to apologize for your behaviour earlier."

Martin sighed. "I'm sorry, Louisa, but why did you have to tell him about me? You know I hate being the centre of gossip."

"I didn't talk about you to Elliot. I only told him that I was married to the village GP. I'm sure he heard other stories from the villagers."

"And James? You obviously mentioned him."

"Yes, Martin, I did. It would be bit odd to not talk about your children, don't you think?"

"Yes. It's just, when he was next to you I kept thinking about your friend Danny and the last time he was here."

"Danny? Danny Steele?"

Martin nodded. "How he tried to interfere in our marriage - to try and convince you that I wasn't worthy of you."

Louisa stood up and walked around to stand behind him. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders and resting her cheek against his, she said, "Martin, you have nothing to be jealous about. Elliot won't come between us - I promise. I won't let anything happen. In fact, I've been quite clear with him to whom I belong."

"Mm."

She patted his arm reassuringly. "Now come to bed. It's late and I miss you."

"In just a few minutes. I want to finish this last part." He leaned over his desk and, like the surgeon he used to be, expertly resumed cleaning the tiny gears.

Louisa rolled her eyes. Honestly, she thought. He was like a child sometimes. But she smiled as the little boy she seldom saw emerged from her husband. Reaching down, she loosened his tie and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt.

"Louisa, please, that's very distracting," he said with a hint of irritation.

"Wouldn't you rather come upstairs with me than play with your clock?" she purred in his ear. He set down the small tool and straightened his back. Louisa toyed with the rim of his ear.

Martin could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He inhaled a breath as he felt her cool fingers touch the exposed skin of his chest. "Louisa . . ." his voice trailed off as he lost his train of thought.

She took hold of his hand and pulled him to his feet. Leaning up, she kissed him gently and snaked her arms around his middle. "C'mon, we have holiday preparations to talk about."

"But-but, Louisa," he sputtered, "you just . . ."

Louisa craned her neck as she looked up at him. "I what?"

"You were . . . We were just - you implied that we're going to . . ."

Her smile widened as she listened to him stumble over his words. He was a doctor after all. So why did the word sex cause him such discomfort? It was just one of his little quirks she found to be endearing.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "You mean make love?"

He glanced away from her for a moment, feeling his cheeks start to flush. "Mm."

"We could," she replied nonchalantly, "but it is getting rather late, don't you think?"

He cleared his throat. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this uncomfortable in front of her. "Right. Yes, it is."

Dropping her arms from around his waist, Louisa grasped his hand and led him out of the consulting room, flicking the light switch in the process. "I was joking about the holiday preparations, Martin."

"Mm."

"We can talk about it in the morning over breakfast instead."

Martin scrunched his nose. He groaned internally as he followed his wife up the stairs.

Author's note: Starting next week I will be on holiday (vacation) so I probably won't update for a few weeks. I hope this chapter was good enough to get you through until the next one.